Do you believe?
by Clocks Striking Thirteen
Summary: "Magic, sparks, shining lagoons. Mermaids and fairies and Indians." Hope is gone from the FAYZ and no one has time for fairy tales. But nothing is impossible any more, and especially not for Peter Pan...


**For Avital. Tiny not-so-sneaky Gone references put in. Just for fun. This story can apply to almost any time in the FAYZ. And any time in Peter Pan. Try not to cringe at bits, I really think it's true. **

It was an uneventful Monday morning and Sam Temple was going through the list Albert had sent over about food when a soft knock on the door interrupted him. A little girl with huge brown eyes and an unsmiling mouth was standing outside, trying to peer in.

"Do you believe in fairies?" The girl was tiny. Barely up to his waist, and not a threat. It wouldn't be a joke either. She had that expression little kids get when something is very serious to them but no one else understands how important it is.

"Um. What?" Sam asked. What was this about? Fairies, just like Santa and the tooth fairy, even the youngest of kids in the FAYZ had stopped believing in long ago. But here she was, dead serious, not even smiling. There was something sweet about how innocent and naïve she was.

She frowned and repeated herself. "Do you believe in fairies? I'm doing a serve… a survy…"

"A survey?" Her face cleared.

"That! A survaaay. So. Do you."

"Let me think…" He really didn't have the time for this now. He had a lot to do. "Not really. Sorry. They're just ideas in story books." The corners of her mouth trembled and she ran out. Great. Now he'd made a toddler cry. Not a good day so far.

* * *

><p>Caine Soren was bored. Diana wasn't here, and bossing people about was losing its appeal. So he was relieved, in a way, when there was a knock on the door. A kid so small he ran the risk on stepping on her was on the steps.<p>

He crouched down to her height. "Hi there. What's your name?" She ignored him and opened a little booklet. "Do you believe in fairies?" she asked, all businesslike.

Caine wasn't sure he'd heard right. "Fairies?"

She huffed loudly. "Yes. Fairies. Do you believe in them?"

Well, here was a chance to win support from the kids. He put on his widest smile. "_Of course _I do. I love fairies."

She looked at him appraisingly. "No you don't. You're just saying that. You don't really believe in fairies." Well of course he didn't really believe in fairies. She turned on her heels and sped out.

* * *

><p>Drake Merwin was trying to move some pieces of rock. It was fun to imaging they were each alive and he was slowly squeezing them until they choked and throwing them away hard so they broke their necks. He was concentrating so hard on the image he didn't notice the girl until she was directly in front of him. She was blonde and he could almost see what blood would look like seeping through her curls and dying her hair ginger. He almost smiled. Almost. He was in a pretty good mood, so he let her talk. She also got brownie points for not running away at the sight of him.<p>

"Drake Merrrrrrrwin, do you believe in fairies?"

Does Drake Merwin believe in fairies. He thought not. Pretty soon the girl was running away from him, screaming "It's not fair! Why does no one believe in fairies?"

* * *

><p>Peter Pan was vexed. It wasn't a word he used much, he hardly ever got worried and also he didn't know what it meant. But apparently he was. He heard from the stars something bad was going on in this place called America which was somewhere near London. There was a place in a bubble where everyone had stopped believing in fairies. Which basically sucked, because they were all gone, there was a plague sweeping through Neverland and the fairies were mostly dead or dying of hunger with no one harvesting fairy food. The king and queen told them it would be over soon, they would stop dying, but these were lies. They would keep on dying unless Peter brought some hope to this place. He landed on some kind of invisible floating platform which was blocking his landing. It kind of burned, but he quickly slipped through. First battle won! He was awesome. His feet touched the ground and he was so surprised by what he saw he floated up again. He was in a weird kind of town with strange noises and smells. Smelt a bit like… blood. He grinned, flashing his pearl-white teeth. A fight! At last! He was so bored already…<p>

* * *

><p>A noise coming from the bushes outside. Sam whirled around and ran out the house. Expecting trouble, as always. But it was only a small boy, someone he'd never seen before. He stayed alert. The boy was barefoot and covered with an assortment of autumn leaves in coppers and reds. He was smiling, but had a dagger in his belt.<p>

"You live here?" the boy grinned even more, if that was possible.

"Here? No. But you do and that's where I come in. I have to talk to these people here. Everyone has gone and stopped believing in fairies all at once and it's hurting them! They're dying! We have to make these people believe again!"

Ah. Completely delusional and crazy. "Uh… we?"

"Oh, I forgot, I have to make you believe first. Stupid details."

"Look, I don't have the time to-" What the hell was _that? _

"Meet my fairy."

"But fairies don't… I mean… that's impossible."

"Hmm."

He found himself quoting Astrid. "Impossible things don't happen. That's what impossible means."

"Impossible is a matter of perspective. The universe is much bigger than you know. And you do know a bit. Are you even surprised at finding out more impossible things than have already happened?" No. No, he shouldn't be. But he was.

"I didn't think… fairy tales are something for children to hold on to. They're stories."

"Magic, sparks, shining lagoons. Mermaids and fairies and Indians."

"I…"

"You need to start having hope, Sam Temple. Now. It's what holds the world together."


End file.
